Provided are compositions of matter, apparatus and methods that relate generally to the generation of nanoscale particles. More specifically, provided are nanoscale particle precursor materials, nanoscale particle generating devices and methods for generating nanoscale particles using a capillary aerosol generator.
Aerosol generators are known that include a heated tube for vaporizing liquid. For example, commonly-assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,743,251, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, discloses an aerosol generator including a tube and a heater operable to heat the tube to a sufficient temperature to volatilize liquid in the tube. An aerosol is formed as volatilized material expands out an open end of the tube and admixes with ambient air.
Methods and apparatus for generating an aerosol are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,175,433 and 4,977,785 and in co-pending U.S. application Ser. No. 09/966,562, filed Sep. 26, 2001. Methods for generating ultra-fine particles are disclosed by Gomez et al. in J. Aerosol Sci., Vol. 29, No. 5/6, pp. 561-574 (1998); in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,958,361 and 5,247,842, and in co-pending U.S. application Ser. No. 10/210,600, filed Aug. 1, 2002.
Aerosol generators including a heated capillary for vaporizing liquids to produce an aerosol are described in commonly-assigned U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,640,050; 6,568,390; 6,557,552; 6,516,796; 6,501,052; 6,491,233 and 6,234,167, and in co-pending and commonly assigned U.S. application Ser. No. 10/206,320, filed Jul. 29, 2002; U.S. Ser. No. 09/981,739, filed Oct. 19, 2001, each incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.